AI Research Startup Flapping Airplanes Valued at $6 Billion

Flapping Airplanes, a year-old artificial intelligence startup, has raised $1 billion in funding at a $6 billion valuation — the latest example of investors betting on a newer crop of AI research labs that have yet to introduce commercial products. The financing, set to be announced Wednesday, was led by Index Ventures and Lux Capital. Other participants included Sequoia Capital, Alphabet Inc.’s GV and Kleiner Perkins. The company’s valuation, which includes the money raised, has quadrupled from a prior round in January.

Founded in late 2025, Flapping Airplanes is one of a growing number of so-called AI neolabs, or startups that are initially focused on research rather than racing to launch artificial intelligence products and bolster revenue. Venture capital firms have poured billions of dollars into companies working on AI-driven scientific breakthroughs, self-improving AI systems and more. Flapping Airplanes is working on methods to train AI models on less data and less compute, as well as making the chips used to develop and run models more efficient, co-founder Asher Spector said in an interview. The effort to do more with less coincides with heightened scrutiny on the massive amount of capital companies are spending on chips and data centers to support AI development.“The basic thesis is demand for AI is going to outpace chip and data supply,” Spector said. “The company that’s going to be most successful, and create the most value for the world, is the one that can squeeze the most out of the inputs.”Given how much money is being spent on infrastructure for the current AI boom, wringing 10% more performance out of each chip would be “tremendously economically valuable,” he said.

The San Francisco-based startup has been writing a version of the software used to run Nvidia Corp.’s coveted graphics processing units that lets Flapping Airplanes make the chips more efficient, and use them in new and more flexible ways, said Aidan Smith, another co-founder at the company. Nvidia is an investor in the startup.

Brandon Reeves, a partner at Lux, said “getting more out of what we have” will be crucial for “the next frontier” of AI development. The startup is “probably best positioned to do that,” he said.

Spector hopes that his firm’s work will make AI more accessible for other companies that want to use it. The startup plans to eventually commercialize its technology, he said.

The name Flapping Airplanes references an older aircraft concept known as an ornithopter. To Spector, it’s a metaphor for the idea of building technology that combines the advantages of natural and artificial intelligence.David Cahn, a partner at Sequoia who has known Spector and his brother Ben — the third co-founder — for years, said the latest funding round shows how highly investors rate the company’s founding team.

“There are so many of these AI labs that you can get lost in the noise,” Cahn said. “But this is not a one-of-many company; this is a one-of-one company.”